Dual event slotted paging

Abstract

A novel and improved method and system for paging a cellular telephone or other wireless terminal using two paging channels that reduces standby mode power consumption described. In one embodiment of the invention, a minimally encoded quick paging channel is established over which short, quick page messages are transmitted during one of a set of quick paging slots. The quick page message indicates that a communications request has been received, and that the receiving communication terminals should process a highly encoded full paging channel over which more detailed, full page messages are transmitted during the next full paging slot. A terminal monitors full paging channel only after a quick page message has been received on the quick paging channel.

1. A method for paging a wireless terminal in a wireless communication system, comprising:
 transmitting a quick page message via a first channel, said quick page message notifying the wireless terminal to begin monitoring a second channel for a full page message; 
 transmitting said full page message via said second channel; 
 wherein said second channel includes more processing than said first channel, wherein said more processing includes encoding through an encoder, interleaving through an interleaver, and adding cyclic redundancy check through a cyclic redundancy check circuit to said full page message; 
 wherein said wireless terminal is a particular wireless terminal included within a set of wireless terminals in said wireless communication system; wherein said quick page message is for directing said set of wireless terminals to monitor said second channel for said full page message; wherein said quick page message contains less data than said full page message; wherein said full page message identifies said particular wireless terminal among said set of wireless terminals; 
 wherein said transmitting said quick page message occurs during a first time slot assigned to the set of wireless terminals; 
 wherein said transmitting said full page message occurs during a second time slot assigned to the set of wireless terminals; 
 wherein different sets of wireless terminals are assigned to different first paging slots, and 
 wherein said first time slot is part of a group of first time slots, said group of said first time slots corresponding to said second time slot, said group of said first time slots forming a quick page period beginning a fixed time before the beginning of the second time slot. 
 
     
     
       2. The method as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein said second channel is established via direct sequence modulation. 
     
     
       3. The method as set forth in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 generating said quick page message before said step of transmitting said quick page message via said first channel; and 
 generating said full page message before transmitting said full page message via said second channel. 
 
     
     
       4. The method as set forth in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 direct sequence spreading said full page message; and 
 direct sequence spreading said quick page message. 
 
     
     
       5. The method as set forth in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving said quick page message during said first time slot; 
 activating signal processing circuitry of the wireless terminal; 
 receiving said full page message during said second time slot and using said activated signal processing circuitry to process said full page message. 
 
     
     
       6. The method as set forth in  claim 5 , wherein said signal processing circuitry is comprised of a trellis decoding system. 
     
     
       7. The method as set forth in  claim 5 , wherein said signal processing circuitry is comprised of a deinterleaver. 
     
     
       8. The method as set forth in  claim 5 , wherein said signal processing circuitry is comprised of a cyclical redundancy check circuit. 
     
     
       9. The method as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein the encoder is a convolutional encoder. 
     
     
       10. An apparatus for paging a wireless terminal in a wireless communication system, comprising:
 means for transmitting a quick page message via a first channel, said quick page message notifying the wireless terminal to begin monitoring a second channel for a full page message; 
 means for transmitting said full page message via said second channel; 
 wherein said second channel includes more processing than said first channel, wherein said more processing includes encoding through an encoder, interleaving through an interleaver, and adding cyclic redundancy check through a cyclic redundancy check circuit to said full page message; 
 wherein said wireless terminal is a particular wireless terminal included within a set of wireless terminals in said wireless communication system; wherein said quick page message is for directing said set of wireless terminals to monitor said second channel for said full page message; wherein said quick page message contains less data than said full page message; wherein said full page message identifies said particular wireless terminal among said set of wireless terminals; 
 wherein said transmitting said quick page message occurs during a first time slot assigned to the set of wireless terminals; 
 wherein said transmitting said full page message occurs during a second time slot assigned to the set of wireless terminals; 
 wherein different sets of wireless terminals are assigned to different first paging slots, and 
 wherein said first time slot is part of a group of first time slots, said group of said first time slots corresponding to said second time slot, said group of said first time slots forming a quick page period beginning a fixed time before the beginning of the second time slot. 
 
     
     
       11. The apparatus as set forth in  claim 10 , wherein said second channel is established via direct sequence modulation. 
     
     
       12. The apparatus as set forth in  claim 10 , further comprising:
 means for generating said quick page message before transmitting said quick page message via said first channel; and 
 means for generating said full page message before transmitting said full page message via said second channel. 
 
     
     
       13. The apparatus as set forth in  claim 10 , further comprising:
 means for direct sequence spreading said full page message; and 
 means for direct sequence spreading said quick page message. 
 
     
     
       14. The apparatus as set forth in  claim 10 , further comprising:
 means for receiving said quick page message during said first time slot; 
 means for activating signal processing circuitry of the wireless terminal; 
 means for receiving said full page message during said second time slot and using said activated signal processing circuitry to process said full page message. 
 
     
     
       15. The apparatus as set forth in  claim 14 , wherein said signal processing circuitry is comprised of a trellis decoding system. 
     
     
       16. The apparatus as set forth in  claim 14 , wherein said signal processing circuitry is comprised of a deinterleaver. 
     
     
       17. The apparatus as set forth in  claim 14 , wherein said signal processing circuitry is comprised of a cyclical redundancy check circuit. 
     
     
       18. The apparatus as set forth in  claim 10 , wherein the encoder is a convolutional encoder. 
     
     
       19. An apparatus comprising:
 at least one processor configured to
 transmit a quick page message via a first channel, said quick page message notifying a wireless terminal to begin monitoring a second channel for a full page message, and 
 transmit said full page message via said second channel; and 
 
 a memory coupled to the at least one processor, 
 wherein said second channel includes more processing than said first channel, wherein said more processing includes encoding through an encoder, interleaving through an interleaver, and adding cyclic redundancy check through a cyclic redundancy check circuit to said full page message; 
 wherein said wireless terminal is a particular wireless terminal included within a set of wireless terminals in said wireless communication system; wherein said quick page message is for directing said set of wireless terminals to monitor said second channel for said full page message; wherein said quick page message contains less data than said full page message; wherein said full page message identifies said particular wireless terminal among said set of wireless terminals; 
 wherein said transmitting said quick page message occurs during a first time slot assigned to the set of wireless terminals; 
 wherein said transmitting said full page message occurs during a second time slot assigned to the set of wireless terminals; 
 wherein different sets of wireless terminals are assigned to different first paging slots, and 
 wherein said first time slot is part of a group of first time slots, said group of said first time slots corresponding to said second time slot, said group of said first time slots forming a quick page period beginning a fixed time before the beginning of the second time slot. 
 
     
     
       20. The apparatus as set forth in  claim 19 , wherein said second channel is established via direct sequence modulation. 
     
     
       21. The apparatus as set forth in  claim 19 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to
 generate said quick page message before transmitting said quick page message via said first channel, and 
 generate said full page message before transmitting said full page message via said second channel. 
 
     
     
       22. The apparatus as set forth in  claim 19 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to
 direct sequence spread said full page message, and 
 direct sequence spread said quick page message. 
 
     
     
       23. The apparatus as set forth in  claim 19 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to
 receive said quick page message during said first time slot, 
 activate signal processing circuitry of the wireless terminal, and 
 receive said full page message during said second time slot and use said activated signal processing circuitry to process said full page message. 
 
     
     
       24. The apparatus as set forth in  claim 23 , wherein said signal processing circuitry is comprised of a trellis decoding system. 
     
     
       25. The apparatus as set forth in  claim 23 , wherein said signal processing circuitry is comprised of a deinterleaver. 
     
     
       26. The apparatus as set forth in  claim 23 , wherein said signal processing circuitry is comprised of a cyclical redundancy check circuit. 
     
     
       27. The apparatus as set forth in  claim 19 , wherein the encoder is a convolutional encoder. 
     
     
       28. A method for paging a wireless terminal in a wireless communication system comprising:
 receiving a quick page message via a first channel, said quick page message notifying the wireless terminal to begin monitoring a second channel for a full page message; 
 receiving said full page message via said second channel; 
 wherein said receiving said full page message includes more processing than said receiving said quick page message, wherein said more processing includes decoding through a decoding system, deinterleaving through a deinterleaver, and processing through a cyclical redundancy check circuit; 
 wherein said wireless terminal is a particular wireless terminal included within a set of wireless terminals in said wireless communication system; wherein said quick page message is for directing said set of wireless terminals to monitor said second channel for said full page message; wherein said quick page message contains less data than said full page message; wherein said full page message identifies said particular wireless terminal among said set of wireless terminals; 
 wherein said receiving said quick page message occurs during a first time slot assigned to the set of wireless terminals; 
 wherein said receiving said full page message occurs during a second time slot assigned to the set of wireless terminals; 
 wherein different sets of wireless terminals are assigned to different first paging slots, and 
 wherein said first time slot is part of a group of first time slots, said group of said first time slots corresponding to said second time slot, said group of said first time slots forming a quick page period beginning a fixed time before the beginning of the second time slot. 
 
     
     
       29. The method of  claim 28 , wherein the decoding system is a trellis decoding system. 
     
     
       30. An apparatus, comprising:
 means for receiving a quick page message via a first channel, said quick page message notifying a wireless terminal to begin monitoring a second channel for a full page message; 
 means for receiving said full page message via said second channel; 
 wherein said means for receiving said full page message includes more processing means than said means for receiving said quick page message, wherein said more processing means includes means for decoding through a decoding system, means for deinterleaving through a deinterleaver, and means for processing through a cyclical redundancy check circuit; 
 wherein said wireless terminal is a particular wireless terminal included within a set of wireless terminals in said wireless communication system; wherein said quick page message is for directing said set of wireless terminals to monitor said second channel for said full page message; wherein said quick page message contains less data than said full page message; wherein said full page message identifies said particular wireless terminal among said set of wireless terminals; 
 wherein said quick page message is received by the wireless terminal during a first time slot assigned to the set of wireless terminals; 
 wherein said full page message is received by the wireless terminal during a second time slot assigned to the set of wireless terminals; 
 wherein different sets of wireless terminals are assigned to different first paging slots, and 
 wherein said first time slot is part of a group of first time slots, said group of said first time slots corresponding to said second time slot, said group of said first time slots forming a quick page period beginning a fixed time before the beginning of the second time slot. 
 
     
     
       31. The apparatus of  claim 30 , wherein the decoding system is a trellis decoding system. 
     
     
       32. An apparatus, comprising:
 at least one processor configured to
 receive a quick page message via a first channel, said quick page message notifying a wireless terminal to begin monitoring a second channel for a full page message, and 
 receive said full page message via said second channel; and 
 
 a memory coupled to the at least one processor, 
 wherein said receiving said full page message includes more processing than said receiving said quick page message, wherein said more processing includes decoding through a decoding system, deinterleaving through a deinterleaver, and processing through a cyclical redundancy check circuit; 
 wherein said wireless terminal is a particular wireless terminal included within a set of wireless terminals in said wireless communication system; wherein said quick page message is for directing said set of wireless terminals to monitor said second channel for said full page message; wherein said quick page message contains less data than said full page message; wherein said full page message identifies said particular wireless terminal among said set of wireless terminals; 
 wherein said receiving said quick page message occurs during a first time slot assigned to the set of wireless terminals; 
 wherein said receiving said full page message occurs during a second time slot assigned to the set of wireless terminals; 
 wherein different sets of wireless terminals are assigned to different first paging slots, and 
 wherein said first time slot is part of a group of first time slots, said group of said first time slots corresponding to said second time slot, said group of said first time slots forming a quick page period beginning a fixed time before the beginning of the second time slot. 
 
     
     
       33. The apparatus of  claim 32 , wherein the decoding system is a trellis decoding system.